Dr. Vicente Aldan told the House of Representative yesterday that the safety of patients should be a serious concern.
Senate Bill 16-44, he added, could be an attempt to put nurse practitioners on the same level as physicians, which, he said, “is insulting.”
He noted that the proposal will allow nurse practitioners to diagnose patients and prescribe medicines.
He said proponents should study the bill carefully before the Legislature takes action.
“Ask yourself. Who would you let to take care of your child? I’m just being cautious,” he said.
Nurse practitioners who supported the bill attended yesterday’s House session.
Bertha P. Camacho, chairwoman of Commonwealth Board of Nurse Examiners, said they were hoping to see physicians express support for the bill introduced by Sen. Joseph M. Mendiola, Covenant-Tinian.
Besides Camacho, the CNMI has five other nurse practitioners.
Arley Long, a family nurse practitioner on Tinian for 13 years, said the bill aims to prevent the disruption of primary healthcare services in the CNMI.
The Tinian Health Center, she said, last week hired a new physician.
“We always seem to have a really hard time getting a physician these days,” she added. “We had one in the past who stayed for many years. Then she left — it is difficult to keep one on island.”
According to the bill’s proponents, a study found that physicians in rural and urban settings believe that non-physician health providers posses the necessary skills and knowledge to provide primary care to patients.
These health providers are “an asset — they free physicians’ time to handle more critically ill patients.”
Long said the CNMI has a high “turnover rate for physicians” which, she added, is not good for patient management.
The bill, she said, will provide continuity in providing quality healthcare to patients.
“If a physician resigns, say, tomorrow then we will go back to the same situation when we had to shut down our clinic,” Long said.
According to the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners, nurse practitioners or advanced practice registered nurses can make independent and collaborative healthcare decisions.
In the U.S., there is an increasing use of nurse practitioners for primary health care, the academy stated.
It added that at least 12 jurisdictions now require no physicians involved when nurse practitioners prescribe medicines to patients.
